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[548] ἀωτεῖτε … ὕπνον. It seems as if “ἀωτεῖν” must be connected with root “ἀϝ”, as “ἄημι, ἀέσαι”, and the reduplicated verb “ἰαύω” (“ἰάϝω”). This is a natural idea enough ‘breathing sleep's [deep] breath.’ But the rendering of Schol. V. etc. “ἀπανθίζετε τὸν ὕπνον”, like ‘carpere somnos,’ presupposes that “ἀωτεῖν” is derived immediately from “ἄωτος”, and that ‘flower’ is the primary sense of this noun. We may either suppose that “ἄωτος” belongs to a different set of words, perhaps to Skt. avi, H. O. awi, Lat. ovis; or, if parallel with “ἀωτεῖν” and derived from root “αϝ”, that it signifies light downy particles that can be blown away: cp. Lat. floccus from flo. See Od.1. 443.

Homer's Odyssey. W. Walter Merry. James Riddell. D. B. Monro. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1886-1901.

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